A METEORITE which fell in a north Oxfordshire village 180 years ago has gone on display in London.

The cricket-ball sized rock is on display at Tate Britain and is part of an exhibition by the Oxford artist and filmmaker Patrick Keiller.

According to official Oxford University records, the meteorite fell on February 15, 1830, at 7.30pm in Launton, near Bicester.

It fell in the garden of a farm labourer named John Bucknell and records describe how a bright fireball was seen and loud bangs were heard.

The rock is part of an installation called The Robinson Institute, which represents the work of a fictional researcher called Robinson.

It features a series of objects supposedly found on his travels, and through them Mr Keiller’s work examines the development of global capitalism.

There are two meteorites in the exhibition, the other one falling in 1795 in Yorkshire. Both fell in years of major historical events, according to Mr Keiller.

He said: “1830 was a year of revolutions in France and Belgium.

“The first city-to-city passenger railway ran in 1830 and the book Principals of Geology  was published in 1830, so it’s a kind of key year.”

The meteorite will be on display until October.